Preferential interaction of the core histone tail domains with linker DNA
- *Laboratoire de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire de la Différenciation, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale U 309, Institut Albert Bonniot, Domaine de Merci, 38706 La Tronche Cedex, France; and ‡Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY 14642
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Communicated by Fred Sherman, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY (received for review November 13, 2000)
Abstract
Within chromatin, the core histone tail domains play critical roles in regulating the structure and accessibility of nucleosomal DNA within the chromatin fiber. Thus, many nuclear processes are facilitated by concomitant posttranslational modification of these domains. However, elucidation of the mechanisms by which the tails mediate such processes awaits definition of tail interactions within chromatin. In this study we have investigated the primary DNA target of the majority of the tails in mononucleosomes. The results clearly show that the tails bind preferentially to “linker” DNA, outside of the DNA encompassed by the nucleosome core. These results have important implications for models of tail function within the chromatin fiber and for in vitro structural and functional studies using nucleosome core particles.
Footnotes
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↵ † Permanent address: Institute of Solid State Physics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1784 Sofia, Bulgaria.
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↵ § Present address: Laboratory of Molecular Biology, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892.
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↵ ¶ To whom reprint requests should be addressed. E-mail: jjhs{at}uhura.cc.rochester.edu.
- Abbreviation:
- APB,
- azidophenacyl bromide
- Copyright © 2001, The National Academy of Sciences
